Protected blade



Oct. 13, 1942. H. GAMBRILL, JR 2,293,362

PROTECTED BLADE I Filed Oct. 2, 1939 INVENTOR Patented Oct. 13, 1942 PROTECTED BLADE Howard Gambrill, J12, Cambridge, Mass, assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application October 2, 1939, Serial No. 297,429

1 Claim.

This invention relates to th packaging of fine edged blades, such for example as safety razor blades. It consists in a novel enclosure in which an individual blade may be packaged for distribution fully protected from moisture and from damage to its keen cutting edge and which includes an inner Wrapper and an outer envelope so constructed and arranged that the user may conveniently withdraw the blade in one motion without damage to the outer envelope or to the blade edges.

Blade manufacturers desire to dispense safety razor blades in printed or lithographed envelopes having attractive appearance and artistic appeal to the purchasers. Practical considerations render it necessary in many cases to protect the blade from moisture by substantially enclosing it first in a waterproof wrapping and to protect the keen edge of the blade by holding it definitely out of contact with the folds of its envelope and wrapper. Accordingly, it has been the practice heretofore to attach the blade temporarily to a portion of its wrapping by an adhesive or by interlocking therewith. These expedients have been satisfactory in the past, but at some sacrifice to the convenience of the user in that it is sometimes inconvenient to open the sealed envelope or to find a starting place for Withdrawing the blade conveniently without danger of cutting to the user or damage to the blade edge by contact with its wrappings.

In one aspect the present invention consists in a closed envelope containing a safety razor blade and presenting an easily located tongue which projects or extends to the exterior of the envelope within convenient reach of the user, the unit being so organized that by merely pulling the tongue the blade may be extracted from the envelope with its sharp edge guarded against injury from contact with the envelope or with the fingers of the user.

In its preferred form my invention consists in a blade protected by an inner wrapper folded over one of its unsharpened ends and provided with a projecting tongue remote from its fold line, in combination with an outer envelope closed to hold the wrapper in plac upon the blade and having a blade passage at one end through which the tongue of the wrapper projects into a position, as on the surface of the envelope, in which it may be grasped for withdrawing the wrapped blade through the passage in the envelope without the necessity of tearing or otherwise damaging the envelope.

Variou constructions of Wrapping or of envelope and wrapper may be employed to achieve the desired results. One preferred embodiment thereof has been selected for purposes of illustration and will-now be described in connection with the accompany drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank for a blade envelope;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a wrapper blank with a blade positioned thereon;

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a wrapped blade in position upon the unfolded envelope blank;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the closed blade-containingenvelope; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

The blade envelope blank shown in Fig. 1 is designed to exhibit the printed insignia of the manufacturer upon its outer surfaces and comprises a rectangular body portion l0 having a tapering tongue II at one end, a tapering front flap l2 and a rectangular back flap l3. Such a blank may be died out from paper stock and scored in a single operation as indicated by the dotted lines. In preparing such a blank for automatic wrapping machinery it is sometimes desirable to provide the inner face of the back flap IS with spots of adhesive which are effective in the final wrapping step to seal the envelope.

In Fig. 2 a wrapper blank of oiled or waxed or tin-foiled paper is shown with a blade properly placed thereon for wrapping. The blank oomprises a rectangular body portion l4 scored transversely to define a fold line and a cover portion l5 which is substantially the same length as the body [4 and provided in its free end with a concave recess' 11. The body I4 is provided at its free end with a tapering tongue l6 whichextends substantially beyond the end of the blade 20. The blade selected for illustration is of wellknown commercial type of safety razor blade sharpened on both longitudinal edges and having reentrant corner recesses which define elongated unsharpened end portions in the blade. The blade 20 is placed upon the body l4 of the wrapper and held thereon by adhesive spots, with its sharpened edge definitely located within the longitudinal edges of the body l4 and one unsharpened end edge located in proximity to the fold line of the wrapper.

In Fig. 3 the wrapped blade is shown as located upon the envelope blank of Fig. 1 in position to be enclosed therein, that is to say, with the folded Wrapper coinciding substantially with and superposed upon the body Hi of the envelope. In this position it will be noted that the tongue l6 of the Wrapper projects beyond the contour of the envelope blank. In the wrapping operation the end tab II is first folded inwardly upon the cover portion I of the wrapper. The front flap is then folded inwardly and finally the'back flap I3 is folded transversely over the fiap l2 and sealed thereto by one or more spots of adhesive.

It will be noted that in closing the envelope in the manner above outlined a blade passage or slit is left at the right-hand end of the envelope and through this passage projects the tongue I 6 of the wrapper. After the envelope has been closed this tongue may be folded inwardly over the end of the blade and over the face of the envelope into the position suggested in Fig. 4 and in this operation it will be noted that the tongue completes the wrapping of the blade sealing it between the body M of the wrapper and the folded flaps of the envelope.

It will be noted that in the sealed envelope the tongue l6 projects out from the interior of the envelope upon the surface of the folded back flap I3, being thus rendered conspicuous and easy of location by the user even without close inspection of the package. Accordingly, when he desires to remove the blade for use all that is required is to grasp and pull the tongue l6 outwardly, whereupon the tongue is freed and the wrapped blade will be slipped out of the blade passage or slit in the right-hand end of the envelope without tearing or otherwise damaging the envelope. The cover l5 of the wrapper is held down in place during this movement by the envelope and the sharp edges of the blade are guarded meanwhile by the double thickness of the wrapper projecting beyond them. When the wrapped blade has been Wholly removed from the envelope the cover portion I5 of the wrapper may be lifted and for this purpose the concave recess I! in its end edges exposes the surface of the blade in a limited area and facilitates separating the wrapper and blade.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A protected safety razor blade of the double edged type having an inner wrapper folded over one of its unsharpened ends, completely enclosing its sharpened edges on both sides and being temporarily secured to the blade with the folded and doubled edges of the wrapper extending outside and protecting the sharp longitudinal edges of the blade, one end of the wrapper having a projecting tongue and the other a recess exposing a limited area of the blade end, in combination with an outer envelope sealed across the Wrapped blade and having a narrow blade passage at one end through which the wrapped blade may pass Without tearing the envelope, the tongue of the wrapper projecting out through said passage beyond the outer end of the blade and being folded over said end and in exposed position upon the face of the envelope, thus enclosing the outer end of the blade, and providing accessible means by which the wrapped blade may be withdrawn from the envelope.

HOWARD GAMBRILL, JR. 

